Oculomotor neurocircuitry, a structural connectivity study of infantile nystagmus syndrome

Infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) is one of the leading causes of significant vision loss in children and affects about 1 in 1000 to 6000 births. In the present study, we are the first to investigate the structural pathways of patients and controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Specifically...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2015-04, Vol.10 (4), p.e0125380-e0125380
Main Authors: Kashou, Nasser H, Zampini, Angelica R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anisotropy
Biofeedback
Blindness
Brain
Brain - physiopathology
Brain cancer
Brain Mapping
Brain stem
Care and treatment
Case-Control Studies
Causes of
Cerebellum
Cerebrum
Children
Comparative analysis
Connectivity
Connectome
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Eye movements
Female
Humans
Infant
Magnetic resonance imaging
Male
Medical imaging
Middle Aged
Neural circuitry
Neural networks
Neuroimaging
Neurology
Nystagmus
Nystagmus, Pathologic - diagnosis
Nystagmus, Pathologic - genetics
Nystagmus, Pathologic - physiopathology
Oculomotor Nerve - physiopathology
Patients
Pedigree
Saccades (Eye movements)
Studies
Thalamus
Tracks (paths)
Velocity
Visual impairment
Young Adult
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Summary:Infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) is one of the leading causes of significant vision loss in children and affects about 1 in 1000 to 6000 births. In the present study, we are the first to investigate the structural pathways of patients and controls using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Specifically, three female INS patients from the same family were scanned, two sisters and a mother. Six regions of interest (ROIs) were created manually to analyze the number of tracks. Additionally, three ROI masks were analyzed using TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics). The number of fiber tracks was reduced in INS subjects, compared to normal subjects, by 15.9%, 13.9%, 9.2%, 18.6%, 5.3%, and 2.5% for the pons, cerebellum (right and left), brainstem, cerebrum, and thalamus. Furthermore, TBSS results indicated that the fractional anisotropy (FA) values for the patients were lower in the superior ventral aspects of the pons of the brainstem than in those of the controls. We have identified some brain regions that may be actively involved in INS. These novel findings would be beneficial to the neuroimaging clinical and research community as they will give them new direction in further pursuing neurological studies related to oculomotor function and provide a rational approach to studying INS.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125380